Bad luck: Pope acknowledges he got caught at record store
By Nicole Winfield — January 14, 2022
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has long lamented that he can’t walk around town unnoticed like he used to before becoming pope. But he seems to have nevertheless kept his sense of humor after he was caught on camera making an unannounced visit to a Rome record shop this week. Francis wrote a note to […]
Vatican novelty to start New Year as pope urges adoption
By Nicole Winfield — January 5, 2022
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis called Wednesday for simplified adoption procedures and urged couples to have more children as he presided over his first general audience of the New Year with a novel supporting cast that emphasized his call for a less-clericalized Catholic Church. For the first time, a layman and a nun provided the […]
Pope shakes up office that handles migration, COVID
By Nicole Winfield — December 23, 2021
ROME (AP) — Francis thanked Cardinal Peter Turkson for his five years of service but decided on new leadership following the results of an internal investigation, the Vatican said.
Pope offers hope to poor in visit to namesake’s Assisi home
By Nicole Winfield and Alessandra Tarantino — November 12, 2021
In one of his first outings in Italy since the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis took his time greeting some of the 500 people brought by Catholic charity groups to Assisi to join Francis in marking the Catholic Church's world day of the poor.
Vatican-backed sex abuse research institute expands mandate
By Nicole Winfield — October 13, 2021
It is expanding its mandate to also include the sexual and spiritual abuse of adults. The Rev. Hans Zollner stressed that the new institute was by no means pushing aside its key focus on child protection.
Europe court rejects case seeking to blame Vatican for abuse
By Nicole Winfield — October 12, 2021
ROME (AP) — A European court agreed Tuesday that the Vatican couldn’t be sued in a local court for sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests, affirming that it enjoys sovereign immunity and that the misconduct of priests and their superiors can’t be attributed to the Holy See. The European Court of Human Rights dismissed a […]
San Marino legalizes abortion; Pope, women’s groups disagree
By Francesco Fedeli and Nicole Winfield — September 27, 2021
SAN MARINO (AP) — Pope Francis repeated Monday that abortion is “murder,” a day after the tiny republic of San Marino became the latest Catholic state to legalize the procedure, much to the cheers of women’s rights groups. An overwhelming majority — 77% of the 14,384 votes cast Sunday in the microstate surrounded by Italy […]
